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08/30/2007: "Mango Cream Cheese Squares"
I posted a recipe for Lilikoi Chiffon Squares about a month ago and promised to post a similar recipe for people who do not have access to Lilikoi. Noreen was nice enough to share her recipe with me for Mango Cream Cheese Squares and seeing that mangos are in season (I hope they still are!), this is a perfect recipe to try as summer winds down. I have special memories of these squares...I have fond memories as a child of eating them once...but never finding them in stores again! But imagine my surprise when I received this recipe and it tasted almost exactly the same...
Anyway, enough of the talking...on to the pictures and recipe!
Mango Cream Cheese Squares
Crust:
2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 blocks of margarine (2 cups)
Filling:
1 (8oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 (8oz.) Cool Whip, defrosted
Topping:
2 packages Knox gelatin
1 cup water
1 cup boiling water
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 Tablespoons lemon juice
4 cups firm-ripe mango, diced and drained
Crust: Cream sugar and margarine together. Add flour and mix. Press into greased 9 x 13 inch cake pan. Bake at 325 degrees F for about 40 minutes or until golden brown.
Filling: Thoroughly beat together cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Fold in Cool Whip and spread over cooled crust. Chill until firm.
Topping: Sprinkle gelatin over 1 cup water and mix. Add boiling water, sugar and salt. Stir until completely dissolved. Stir in lemon juice; let cool. Add fruit. Chill until mixture gels to egg white consistency; then spoon over cream cheese layer and refrigerate until firm. Cut into squares.
If you noticed, I did say that I made beginner's mistakes. I say that mainly because I am incredibly impatient...but as you can see, the recipe asks you to wait for the crust and filling to firm up and to chill the topping a bit before adding it to the pan. Please take this advice! I didn't because when I made the lilikoi chiffon squares, that was not a necessary step...and it came out just fine. However, when I did that with this recipe, the gelatin of the topping seeped through the edges of the pan and created a very thin layer of gelatin on the bottom of the crust. Other than that though, the dessert turned out great! In my humble opinion, the Lilikoi Chiffon Squares are a bit easier to make but both are worth the effort!